Des Moines Last December, I wrote a post asking “Who’s the No. 2 startup in Des Moines?” In that post, I shared the results of an informal (and unscientific) poll that I conducted around the community to seek out which companies were the "top startups." While Dwolla was a unanimous selection at No. 1, there was no consensus on No. 2 or even what makes for a "top startup." The folks I talked to clearly felt like Dwolla was doing the correct things to be at the top even though most people didn't necessarily have a concrete opinion on what those "things" were. It seemed it was Dwolla and then everyone else. Fast forward to today, and progress within the local startup scene has helped bring greater clarity to the question I posed in December. Rather than defaulting to one company to characterize the startup … read more

Chicago I participated Monday in a Chicago TechWeek panel titled "Stories from the Silicon Prairie: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Outside of the Valley." I was joined by Naithan Jones of AgLocal, Thad Langford of Open Air Equity Partners, Ben Milne of Dwolla and Greg Kratofil of Polsinelli Shughart, who served as our panel's moderator. This was the first time that most of us had presented on the same panel, and I was interested in hearing stories … read more

Omaha It's hard to believe that we're days away from the fourth year of Big Omaha. It seems like just yesterday we were debating about hosting an event, fondly something similar to an "Omaha Web 2.0 / Social Media" conference. I for one am glad that we decided on the name "Big Omaha" instead of the "Web 2.0 Conference in Omaha" as the event is so much more than just the latest trends or predictions … read more

Austin Last year around this time, I felt an awful lot like Kevin McCallister. When South By Southwest Interactive rolled around, my fate mirrored that of the precocious protagonist from "Home Alone." Silicon Prairie News team leaves town. Michael stays in town. Michael is home alone. And, once the novelty of using dad's aftershave and eating ice cream … read more

Austin As South by Southwest Interactive kicks off today, predictions for the influential event are coming to a close. What app will break out? What startup will be the one to meet? What panel will prove to be most interesting? Though these predictions are on the minds of major tech blogs, we're taking a different look into the crystal ball, focusing on the Silicon Prairie startups in Austin. One will be a part of the accelerator, another has a chance to grab an award and … read more

Omaha One week has passed since Silicon Prairie News held Omaha's first Startup Job Crawl, and if you were one of the more than 200 students to join our tour de startups, you probably walked away seeing where the potential lies in the local community for mentors, connections and potential employment. Now, it's time to sift through the business cards and make the most … read more

Our most recent Sunday Video Series post came out a bit late and you might have missed it. It's a three-minute video featuring Steve Blank, a noted entrepreneur, author and professor, in which he's asked, "What's a startup?" He answers the question by giving the differences between a startup and a small business. Blank notes that while the terminology is often interchanged around the country, Silicon … read more

Omaha In a few months, we'll be moving the Silicon Prairie News headquarters into a new space in North Downtown Omaha's Mastercraft Building! The Mastercraft (left), a 140,000 square-foot building situated just north of the new TD Ameritrade Park and Hot Shops Art Center, is a former furniture warehouse that's now home to a number of our city's startups and creative companies. We selected the Mastercraft because of the entrepreneurial energy and culture that permeates the building. We wanted to be surrounded by, as well as help contribute to the … read more